Freedom High's football team struggled to a 2-8 finish last season. Its seniors have led a turnaround this yea

Freedom played six games before running into one of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference's elite football programs.

The Patriots' Week 7 effort put them into the power-team conversation for this season.

A 29-28 overtime win against Whitehall last week has this group of Pates in uncharted territory. Freedom (7-0 overall, 5-0 South Division) is tied for the South Division lead with Easton. The current players head into a Friday matchup with Parkland (5-2, 3-2) owning a better record than the Trojans, something they have never had in previous meetings.

Freedom hasn't won the championships coach Jason Roeder talks about wanting to compete for year after year just yet. The Patriots have plenty of challenges ahead.

But after winning six games total over the last two seasons, Freedom's seniors have enjoyed watching the work that started in the offseason lead to game-night success.

"Once we started in the weight room over the summer, it was all about getting money and putting it in the bank," senior center and nose guard Ryan Mullen said. "We take it back out on the field and withdraw it on Friday nights."

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Mullen, Jake Young, Joe Santos, John Callahan and Bryant Connor are among the senior leaders that have set the tone for the Patriots. Some of them provide words to keep Freedom on task. Others deliver quiet on-field performance.

Their collaborative efforts have helped Freedom rebound from two down years despite having one of the smaller varsity rosters in the South. The seniors and their teammates bought into the overhauled weight program instituted by former Liberty standout linebacker Andres Morales after last season. Improved conditioning has helped the Patriots play well late in games.

Emmaus VS Freedom Football Game

DENISE SANCHEZ, FILE PHOTO/THE MORNING CALL

Running back Joe Santos (3) is one of the seniors who has played a pivotal part in Freedom's 7-0 start.

Running back Joe Santos (3) is one of the seniors who has played a pivotal part in Freedom's 7-0 start. (DENISE SANCHEZ, FILE PHOTO/THE MORNING CALL)

Last week against Whitehall, Freedom drove 90-plus yards for touchdowns three times in the second half. The Patriots then won the game in overtime with a touchdown and two-point conversion.

Freedom will need its seniors more than ever this week. Sophomore quarterback Joe Young is out for the season with a fractured hip socket suffered last week against Whitehall. Junior Jonah Gundrum, who started several games at quarterback last season, will replace Young.

With Young out, the Patriots will need their line to play as well as it has all season against Parkland. Freedom ran the ball well with Young, Santos and Roberto Diez through the first seven weeks. All three have at least 400 rushing yards, with no one having more than Santos' 493.

Freedom's defense has also defended the run well most of the season, holding opponents to 3.49 yards per carry.

"We really just came together as a team [this year]," Callahan said. "Last year, we just kind of lacked leadership.

"We all work hard," he added. "We don't blame each other. We just came together really well."

Lawrence leading the way: As a middle linebacker, Ryan Lawrence already played one of the most physically demanding positions for Liberty.

The Hurricanes are now relying on him as their lead runner, too.

Lawrence has carried the ball 32 times for 229 yards, an average of 7.2 yards per carry, in the Hurricanes' last three games. He only carried 16 times for 97 yards in Liberty's first four games.

Liberty has needed Lawrence to run the ball more with Harvey House no longer in the program. House led the Hurricanes with 522 rushing yards last season but was recently dismissed from the team for disciplinary issues. He had just 27 carries for 81 yards this year.

Lawrence remains one of Liberty's top defensive playmakers. He has 40 tackles this season, second on the Hurricanes.

"When you have a kid this talented, he has to touch the football for us offensively," Liberty coach John Truby said. "I think he is a pretty good running back.

"I think Ryan's finally starting to hit a bit of a stride for us," he added. "The last few weeks he's really picked it up."

EPC intel: Parkland senior captain and two-way starter Omar Haddad will play Friday night against Freedom. He aggravated an injury late last week against Easton and had to be helped off the field in his first action since a Week 3 game against Central Catholic.

•Darius Jones returned to the Liberty lineup last week after missing the Parkland game two weeks ago with an injury. He picked up right where he left off, catching seven passes for 110 yards.

Jones has 28 catches this season, ranking fourth in the South Division.

•Emmaus running back Andy Davidson established a single-game school record with his 315 rushing yards Saturday against Central Catholic. Joe Williams held the record before, running for 282 yards and six touchdowns in a 2010 Eastern Conference playoff game against Pocono Mountain West.

•Easton running back Shane Simpson needs one touchdown to own the school's career record. He has 65 career touchdowns, tying him with Juan Gaddy (1989-92).

Simpson is also now second on Easton's all-time rushing list with 3,408 yards. He moved past Ovid Goulbourne (3,332 yards from 2002 to 2004) in last week's win over Parkland.